Cuba annexed in 1898

I think the most realistic scenario is something similar to a Philippines/Puerto Rico combination.

1898-1900: Pro-independence insurrection surppressed with ruthless measures. Being closer to home American public grows even more disgusted with imperialism.

1901-1930: Cuba still poor and suffering from America's racist atitudes. Only in Havana and the few tourist regions is there a level of prosperity. When Prohibition passed the level of violence seen in Cuba makes Chicago look like a pre-school playground. The Italian mob and the Hispanic gangs fight a brutal battle battle for control of the alcoholic beverage trade.

1930-1935: Huey Long's populism finds a receptive audience in Cuba and he allies with local socialists. When he is assassinated rioting wracks the island.

1936: Roosevelt offers Cuba statehood hoping to bring in a state with strong Democratic leanings. The referenum fails when Congress passes a law making English the nation's official language.

1937-1941: Cuban politica factionalize into Populists, Socialists, Democrats and Republicans. Populists and Socialists tend to be pro-Independence while the Democrats and Republicans are pro-statehood.

1942: When elements of Cuba's small but vocal Fascist party (an off shoot of the radical wing of Populist Party) is discovered in talks with a minor Nazi official US troops are sent to the island.

1942-1945: And while the Cuban contributution to the US war effort is strong and patriotic, there is a low level civil inserrection that plagues the island for the war's duration.

1946: Cuba once again rejects an offer of statehood.

1947: Cuba votes for independence.

1948: Cuba is granted independence.

1950: The Cuban president is assassinated. The island erupts into civil war between the Conservatives and the Popular Socialists.

1952: Political pressure force Eisenhower to send troops to Cuba despite the ongoing war in Korea. Eisenhower losses his bid for re-election as the Republican party splits over the Cuban issue. Stevenson wins with a sweep of the solid south.

1953: President Stevenson's liberal policies on race anger his southern constituants and he quickly becomes more reliant on Northern support for his presidency.

That's all for now.

Benjamin
 
I think the most realistic scenario is something similar to a Philippines/Puerto Rico combination.

1898-1900: Pro-independence insurrection surppressed with ruthless measures. Being closer to home American public grows even more disgusted with imperialism.

1901-1930: Cuba still poor and suffering from America's racist atitudes. Only in Havana and the few tourist regions is there a level of prosperity. When Prohibition passed the level of violence seen in Cuba makes Chicago look like a pre-school playground. The Italian mob and the Hispanic gangs fight a brutal battle battle for control of the alcoholic beverage trade.

1930-1935: Huey Long's populism finds a receptive audience in Cuba and he allies with local socialists. When he is assassinated rioting wracks the island.

1936: Roosevelt offers Cuba statehood hoping to bring in a state with strong Democratic leanings. The referenum fails when Congress passes a law making English the nation's official language.

1937-1941: Cuban politica factionalize into Populists, Socialists, Democrats and Republicans. Populists and Socialists tend to be pro-Independence while the Democrats and Republicans are pro-statehood.

1942: When elements of Cuba's small but vocal Fascist party (an off shoot of the radical wing of Populist Party) is discovered in talks with a minor Nazi official US troops are sent to the island.

1942-1945: And while the Cuban contributution to the US war effort is strong and patriotic, there is a low level civil inserrection that plagues the island for the war's duration.

1946: Cuba once again rejects an offer of statehood.

1947: Cuba votes for independence.

1948: Cuba is granted independence.

1950: The Cuban president is assassinated. The island erupts into civil war between the Conservatives and the Popular Socialists.

1952: Political pressure force Eisenhower to send troops to Cuba despite the ongoing war in Korea. Eisenhower losses his bid for re-election as the Republican party splits over the Cuban issue. Stevenson wins with a sweep of the solid south.

1953: President Stevenson's liberal policies on race anger his southern constituants and he quickly becomes more reliant on Northern support for his presidency.

That's all for now.

Benjamin

Wasn't a lot of popular support for Cuban Statehood by native Cubans?...at the time anyway.
 
Cuba would have done far better than it did:D

Done properly, yes. If Cuba is a formal US territory, it's much harder for it to get as downright corrupt as in OTL. Expect Southern-style segregation until the 1960's, and then a possible independence movement (likely Communist, butterfly dependent). It would also lead the US to being slightly more interested in the stability of Haiti/Dominica...

Simon ;)
 
The problem here is one of the "official" causes of the war was Spain's repression of Cuban nationalists. The US annexed Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines yes, becuase those were seen by many as the roots for an empire. And while the US had the grounds to annex Cuba (ie Ostend Manifesto), they sought to, at least politically, liberate Cuba.

In the end, it was better off as a protectorate to exploit than a colony to govern.
 
Cuba is annexed in '98?

I think statehood could probably be brought about relatively quickly. By 1920 Cuba is a state. The Easter Uprising in Ireland could have a salutary effect on American political thinking, as politicians in Washington start thinking it would be a good idea to get Cuba all the way inside the tent before embarking on any foreign adventures. Furthermore, the dominance in Cuba of a political machine that aligns itself with the Democratic Party means that Mr. Wilson has electoral reasons to bring Cuba into the Union.

Being a United States territory and then state is really a net gain for the Cubans. Cuba's economy depended mainly on the US anyway before the US cut them off with sanctions. With statehood they have control of their own internal affairs, free-trade access to their biggest trading partner, and some influence on that trading partner's affairs. Cuba is a beneficiary of the New Deal, and of federal law enforcement. It has some level of democratic participation, since it is an American state, so though a corrupt oligarchy may rule, the kind of dictatorship that was seen in OTL can never arise.

I don't think you'd see a Jim Crow-style regime in Cuba, since there was little base for it in Cuba's history. Cuba's legal system is probably going to stick with some kind of adapted Spanish system, similar to how Louisiana has Napoleonic Code-based system. After all, though the United States may have conquered it, the population will still have the centuries long legacy of Spanish rule.
 
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